Sunday, 21 December 2014

10 games off of my 2014 holiday wishlist

My last post listed the 15 best new games of 2014. These were the best games I tried for the first time last year. Today I thought it would be worth looking at some of the games on my 2014 holiday wishlist.

These aren't in any particular order and include a mix of brand new games and older stuff I've been wanting to pick up for some time.

Star Trek: Fleet Captains - I've never really gotten into the Wizkids Heroclix games. I tried out the first Marvel game when it came out and decided it's not for me. That alone kept me away from this Trek game for a long time.

Over the years though I've been hearing really good things about this game. A variety of podcasts from reviewers I respect have said enough good things that this one got added to my wishlist this year. Added to that my wife is a big Trek fan and I think I won't have to twist her arm to play it with me.

I love the idea of programmable movement added to a fantasy adventure game. It's one of my favourite mechanics (I think it's the computer programmer in me) and you don't see it very often and never in a fantasy themed game.

I also really like the look of the game. Very colourful with lots of cool looking bits.

Primordial Soup - Freshly Spiced - I really enjoy Primordial Soup. A friend introduced it to me a couple years ago as his favourite game and it became one of mine. I finally picked up my own copy last year and have been playing it quite a bit at local events.

One day, when on The Geek, I noticed that there was a 5-6 player expansion. I had not realized this existed in the past and quickly added it to my wishlist.

Colt Express - this one just came out in the last couple of weeks and has been generating a lot of buzz.

A ton of this buzz is about how cool the game looks. You actually build a 3d train as your game board. On this you put a bunch of tokens and your cowboy meeple. Just to add to the look there's a traditional board with a track that even includes some 3D rocks, cactus, etc.

The other thing about this game is that it's another programmable movement game! Two new games using this mechanic in one year, I'm a happy gamer.

Star Wars Imperial Assault - I didn't actually have this one on my wishlist until two days ago. The reason for that is the fact that I didn't actually think it was going to be out in time for the holidays this year. But sure enough, over the last couple of days my Google Plus feed is filled with people showing off their shiny new copies of Imperial Assault.

It's a Star Wars miniature adventure game from Fantasy Flight. Do I really need to say more?

Xia - Legends of a Drift System - This one was a kickstarter. One that I came very close to backing. Actually it's one of the few board game kickstarters that I regret not backing.

Xia is out now and the reviews so far are all positive. It's hearing that this is replacing Merchants & Marauders and Merchants of Venus for many people that had me add it to my wishlist.

Medina - This is an older game that has been on my wishlist for quite some time. The problem was that it was long out of print.

Stronghold games recently fixed that out of print problem, releasing a second edition of Medina late this year.

This new edition looks just as awesome as the old version. Amazing looking wooden bits and a city building game where you end up with an actual mini city when you are done.

Yedo - I could be wrong, but I think it was Tom Vasal who said that Yedo was like Lords of Waterdeep but better. Even if it wasn't Tom, hearing that had me put Yedo on my wishlist.

I like Lords of Waterdeep but I don't love it. It's good but it's just a little too, I don't know, simple maybe. It just feels like it needs a bit more, and based on reviews it sounds like Yedo has that bit more.

I also really dig the theme. Samurai clans is pretty much just as cool as D&D's hidden Lords.

Terra Mystica - This is one of those games that a lot of people love and for some reason I just haven't gotten yet.

It's also a game that a lot of people assume I have. I get requests to bring it out to local events and when I say that I don't own it I always get a "what do you mean you don't own Terra Mystica?"

I figure it's probably time that I add a copy to my collection and see if it really lives up to the hype.

Amerigo - this one has been on my list since last year. I just haven't managed to snag a copy yet.

If you are a regular reader of my content you probably know that I love Stefan Feld. I've got almost every game he's written. Well this is a Stefan Feld game. Added to that it uses the Cube Tower from Wallenstien/Shogun in a very interesting way that seems very cool.

So that's 10 games off of my 2014 holiday wishlist. What's on your list this year?